Controlling mechanism for vehicles.



J. T. WHALEN.

CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR VEHIOLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 24,1907.

Patented 861111.27, 1910.

l UNITED STATES P EN ora ion -Jon1rr. WHALEN, or BRooKLYNQNnv-v, YORK.

CONTROLLING MECHANISM FOR VEHICLES.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that L'Jorrn T. WHALEN, a

citizen of the United States of America, and

a resident of the borough of Brooklyn,

-5 county of Kings State of New York, have In brief my invention comprises a source, or sourcesaof electr city, a number of electric circui s and several groups of interacting mechanical parts connected by these electric.circhits,some of which parts are also actuated and controlled by power from other 2'0 additional sources, not electrical, to perform,

bytheir concerted action, functions as follows: 1.;To indicate to the operator by a.

pointer the varying rate of speed of travel of the vehicle. 2. To record the distance traveled in miles and fractions of a mile,

per-hour, 3. To vary, at will, the limit of the rate of speed of travel of the Vehicle. 4. To reduce the fuel supply to the engine when approaching the limit predeterminedly setto the speed of travel. 5. To

i illumine an. electric lamp when approaching the limit set to the speed of travel of the vehicle. 6. To interrupt the fuel supply to the engine when reaching the set speed limit.

7. To illumine a different electric lamp when reaching the set speed limit. 8. To interrupt the flow ofthe energizing current from the said source of electricity to the induction coil, by means of a permutation-lock-switch,

40 to causethe apparatus to; become inoperative. 9. To interrupt the fuel supply to the engine at, any time by means of a permutation-lock-switch. 10. To lock the inductioncoil-box, by means of the: said permutationlock-switch when standing still, to prevent .operation of the? vehicle by unauthorlzed persons and those not knowin the"combination of the said permutatmn lock.

The drawing accompanying this specifica 5 tionand forming part of the same shows, diagrammatically, the different sources of power it propose to employ to obtain the end sought, the groups of mechanical parts or tmn'slating devices serving as intermediaries,

andtheelectric-circuits by which these parts $pecification of Letters Patent.

Application filed May 24, 1907. Serial No. 375,521.

setting into motion, certain contact visual indication on a suite and with the source of electricity.

In applying polling vehicle, of whatever description, for the purposes and-uses before alluded to,'one of the parts of my ap aratus, a centrifugal governor, as A, is a apted to be, actuated Patented Sept. 27, rare.

are operatively connected, one with the other,

my invention to a self-pro- I by, and to receive motion from, one of the wheels of the vehicle or any other part of the'vehicle moving synchronously with the wheels, through a flexible shaft, gearing or other suitable devices notshown, thereby levers, marking pencils, or kindred means whereby not only a switch may be 0 erated and a le scale provided for that purpose obtained, permitting theoperator at any moment toobserveat a glance at what speed he is traveling, but also a continuous record of the progress and thevariati'onsof speed may be markedoh a strip of paper or similarmaterial which is 1 caused to passbefore a "marking pencil or stylus at a uniform rate of travel by an independent motor, for example, a clockmechanism or time train, as B. The pointer, as a, which, turned by the centrifugal governor A, furnishes in "combination with a scale a visual indication of the rate of speed, preferably in miles per hour, is also adapted to act as a contact-maker on a commutator,

as C, to switch into action certain electric circuits for the purpose of throttling the fuel supply to the engine at D whenever a pie-determined speed limit is approached and reached, as well asto interrupt the circuit of the primary or energizing winding of the induction coil or spark producer, as E, which receives its current from a batter F or a magneto-electric generator G.

permutation-lock switch H secured to the induction-coil box E serves the combined purposes of a lock for closing the coil box when not in'actual use and of a switch, as will be explained more fully hereinafter. From the positive terminal of battery F a wire, as 1, leads to the metallic frame of the centrifugal governor A, the electric current flowing through said frame, pointer a, con-" tact-piece b on commutator C and wire 2 to the'metallic'casing of lock-switch H, from there through swinging lock-bar 0, contactspring 0? contact-piece e and wire 3 to the prlmary winding P of the induction coil and through wire 4, timing-switch f, wl-re I so - 5, cutting-out switch g 1 angle. From contact-piece 'i'projects an inin miles per hour. Thead'ustment of the the fuel throttling device D to completely interrupt. the fue Of'thfi vehicle is reduced elo'w the'predeits speed an keep on increasing;

I "any faster than at the rate of but afew miles per hour. The pointer 01, in conjunction the speed of the vehicle reaches a rate of 30 into wire 7 to electric amp 4% as well as the vehicle continue to increase until reach;

' cessively when an action as before described vehicle, the variations of the occur, and how close the actu and wire 8 to the negative terminal of the battery F.

The commutator C is shown to conslst of a segmental frame supporting an insulating block having three contact pieces, as but an i, which frame is pivotally'supported at 7' and maybe placed and held at any desired deX finger pointing toward a scale, as is, which is arranged concentrically and graduated to indicate the rate of speed of travel diiferent parts of the centrifugal governor A and of the graduated scale k is such that when contact piece opposite the numeral 30 on said scale, as shown on diagram, the pointer a will have been turned so as to rest on contact piece 2', due to the action of centrifugal force on the swinging balls of the governor, as is well understood, whenever niilesr per hour. However, immediately before coining to rest on-contactpiece a pointer a will have rested on contact piece it, therethrough sending part of the-current coming from wire 1, and passin through pointer a,

through coil 8 of the fuel throttling device D, and through wire 9 to the negative ter-. minal of battery-F. derived circuit serves'to revent an increase ofthe speed of the vehic e by reducing the fuel supply to the engine. Should, however, the speed of ing the rate, of 30 miles an hour, the pointer] a will then bysliding ofi contact piece 6 break-the circuit leading-through wire 2 and lock switch H to the primary Winding of production of ignition sparks, an in additio'n, curr ent will .be'sent through contact piece 2' and wire 10 to lamp m and coil 11 of supply to the: englne, these'conditions remaimn untilthe speed,

term ined and set limit. When the commutator C is swung to a-position farther in the direction of the arrow and held there,,the vehicle, if ca able of doing so, may increase until the centrifugal governor has turne pointer a so as to rest on'contact pieces 7 and i sucwill take lace, tendingto reduce the speed. on the ot e'r hand, -thecommutator may be set so-as to prevent the vehicle from movlng.

the scale 7:, thus enablesthe operator to-see at a glance-the rate ofspedd of the. speed-as they a] speed is to the, predetermined and set limit of same,

erases v while the occupants pf the vehicle or the persons who set the limitof the speed by adjusting commutator C may be assured that the car cannot possibly exceed the set limit of the speed as long as it is moved by the energy of the engine only. A i

To furnish a continuous and permanent record of the progress of the vehicle and speed variationsgthe contacting pointer a is shown to extend upward and provided at J its upper end with a segmental part having teeth, as at Z, which teeth mesh with the teeth of gear 0, .while the teeth of intermediary gear 0 mounted on the same shaft as gear '0 mesh with the teeth of 'rack bar 3?,

which latter carries the marking pencil or stylus g. It is obvious that any variation in the speed of the vehicle and therefore, 'also, of the motion of the centrifugal governor, will manifest themselves by acorresponding reciprocating motion of rack bar 7), which motion. is utilized to cause a record to be marked on a strip of paper caused to move before the said rack bar in a direction at right angles to thQ motion of'the rack bar, by a pencil fastened to the latter and bearing on the paper. A clock mechanism or othep motor, imparts a uniform motion to a drum, or drums, around whichthe paper .is led. B indicates the clock-mechanism and 1 the paper drum, while 1* shows the strip. of paper. A,,clutch, .as s, .is providedba' tween the shafts of the time-train and the shaft of the pa er drum,oto enable the latter to become, isengaged from the former. Motion is shown to be transmitted to the centrifugal governor from a movin part of'the vehicle at t by any of the wellown means, while a spring 15 serves to oppose the action of centrifugaforce bn the swinging balls of the governor.

partso'f the permutation switch lockiare in their relative positions as shown in *the v drawing, that is, the coil box is unlocked and the current may pass through the; primary winding generatlng'a current of suficiently high tension in the secondary coil s toproduce sparksat thegap of the spark plug R within -the combustion cham erT of the engine, as is well understood. prin'g 2. tends to return lock bar 0 to its position of rest with P of the induction coil, therebyv one end while engaging. the kerfs of the permutation disks with the other. Part 42 1s secured to the ,cover-of the box.

venting the use of the ve cle by unauthor 130 r -1'2o The purpose of my. permutation lock"v a r 1'05 During the operat'on of the vehicle, the

ized persons. Second, when the vehicle is in operation,by turning the said permutation disks u, not only is the production of igniting sparks made impossible, but the fuel supply to the engine may be instantly interrupted, re ardless of the actual speed, or the set speed limit, by reason of the current from the battery, instead of passing from contact spring 03 through contact piece 0 into the induction coil, passes first through contact piece 12 and wire 12 and then through contact piece to and wire 13, to the coils 8 and 11 of the fuel throttling device, respectively, thereby interrupting the fuel supply to the engine.

From the above is seen that the switch formed by commutator C and pointer a, on-

the centrifugal governor A, and actuated by the same, performs functions identical to those performed by the switch on the coil box which is actuated by hand through the medium of a permutation lock. When the coil box is locked, it is essential to have a knowledge of the combination of the swiltch lock to start the engine and the vehic e.

The fuel throttling device is shown to consist of a damper an, arranged in the pipe connecting the carbureter with the Inletvalve chamber of the engine, which damper is mounted on a spindle together with the armatures of two magnets, in such a manner that these two armatures, y and 3 may be attracted successively by thepole ie ces of electromagnets 8 and .11, respectively, to first close the fuel supply pipe only partly, and after that shutting oft the fuel-supply altogether. The damper may be moved by each of the two magnets through an arc of about 45 degrees, or of 90 degrees by the two magnets, one after the other, from the position wide open to the one at right angles when the damper closes the fuel supply pipe completely. A spring, not shown, returns the armatures to their position of rest together with the damper, as shown, that is, when no current passes through electromagnets 8 and 11.

I do not wish to confine myself to the particular means and constructions indicating in the accompanying diagram the devices I propose to use in carrying out my invention, as I'may prefer to employ devices and details of a different nature or design, though for the same purpose and result, and which devices will be described in separate applications for Letters Patent. I

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a speed controlling apparatus, the

- vice simultaneously, a

comprising a shaft receiving motion from a moving vehicle, which motion varies with the varying rate of speed of travel of said vehicle, means for throttling the fuel supply of an engine actuated by said source of electricity, and an electric igniter connected to said switch. 7

2. In a speed controlling apparatus, the combination of an electrically operated fuelthrottling device, an electric igniter, a source of electricity, a switch connected to said fuel throttling device and igniter, a second switch connected to said switch, source of electricity and fuel throttling device, and a lock actuating said second switch.

3. In a speed-controlling apparatus, the combination of an electrically-operated fuelthrottling device, a source of electricity, a switch located within an induction coil box connecting said fuel-throttling device to said source of electricity, and a lock actuating said switch and arranged to lock the said induction coil box whenever the energizing circuit of the induction coil is broken by the said switch.

4:- In a speed controlling apparatus a source of electricity, an electric motor for actuating a fuel-throttling device, an electric ignlter, and a' switch operated by a centrifugal governor connected to said igniter and fuel-throttling device, and adapted to simultaneously operate said fuelthrottling device and igniter, and to render said igniter inoperative. 4

5. In a speed controlling apparatus, a source of electricity, an electric igniter, an electrically operated fuel-throttling device, a switch connected to said source, igniter and fuel-throttling device, and a switch lever, adapted to successively operate said igniter and fuel-throttling device simultaneously, and said fuel-throttlingdevice alone.

6. In a speed controlling apparatus, asource of electricity, an electric igniter, an electrically operated fuel-throttling device, a signal lamp, and a switch adapted to successively operate said electric igniter alone, said electric igniter and fuel-throttling deand said fuel-throttling device and si nal mp simultaneously.

STi gned at rooklyn this 22 day of May 190 JOHN T. WHALEN. 

